Most small grain producers took time out of their busy schedules to timely report planted acreages of wheat, barley and oats. For those who missed the June 15 deadline, hopefully they will find time to report all other crops and land uses by the July 17 deadline.

Also, a late fee is now being assessed on all small grain reports since we are beyond June 15.

Acreage reports must be completed by July 17 to avoid the late fee for corn, soybeans, hay, fruits, vegetables, CRP and all other land uses.

Although there is always plenty of work to do at the farm, sometimes a trip to the FSA office or a phone call can make quite a difference in the bottom line.

Recently the Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics were released for last year. Some of the information is presented below for Butler County.Milk cows 4,100Hogs 2,400Cattle & calves 22,000Sheep & lambs 1,850Corn silage acres 5,200Corn grain acres 20,600All forage acres 40,700Wheat acres 2,300Barley acres 1,000Oats acres 5,900Soybean acres 3,100Potato acres 175Number of farms 1,175These are just a few of the interesting agriculture stats from the summary. Remember this is not the absolute numbers actually just an estimate.Most seem to be reasonable numbers with a few exceptions, for example hogs. Someone would be hard pressed to locate 2,400 head.In any event the complete statistical summary is available via the internet at www.nass.usda.gov/pa/<B><I>Luke Fritz is executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency.</I></B>